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SB 92 Florida Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Employee Protections

Summary
Employee Protections; Providing that public officers, public employees, and local government attorneys commit a breach of the public trust when they initiate adverse personnel actions against employees of an agency or independent contractor under certain circumstances; prohibiting agencies and independent contractors from taking specified actions against employees or certain persons for disclosing certain information to the Commission on Ethics; requiring that information disclosed include specified violations or alleged violations; providing that specified provisions protect employees and persons who submit written complaints to the commission or provide information to an investigator during an investigation of a complaint or referral, etc.
Issues: ✓ Labor & EmploymentSupports Labor & EmploymentProhibits retaliation against employees disclosing violations to ethics commission, directly protecting worker disclosure rights and reporting mechanisms.90% confidence
Bill status died 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Mar 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

S 92 c1 → S 92 c2 · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was revised to expand eligibility for whistleblower protections to include independent contractors alongside agency employees. The text was also updated to reflect a change in the legislative committee responsible for the bill and adjusted the effective date to January 1, 2027.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded to explicitly cover independent contractors, whereas the previous version only mentioned agency employees.
ELIGIBILITY

Protection against retaliation now applies to both agency employees and independent contractors, broadening the group of workers covered by the law.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the legislation was updated to January 1, 2027.

TECHNICAL

The bill header was updated to reflect a change in the originating committee from Governmental Oversight and Accountability to Rules and Governmental Oversight and Accountability.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 17, 2026

How they voted

23–0
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 24
Feb 17, 2026
D Democratic5
5 Yea
100% Yea
I Independent1
1 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican18
17 Yea 1
94% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
18
Key actions
7
Committee
7
Feb 19, 2026
Upper · Passed
Pending reference review -under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)
upper
Feb 17, 2026
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (23-0-1)
senate
Feb 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
On Committee agenda-- Rules, 02/17/26, 12:00 pm, 412 Knott Building
upper
Jan 13, 2026
Introduced
Introduced
upper
Jan 13, 2026
Upper · Passed
Favorable by Ethics and Elections; YEAS 8 NAYS 0
upper
Jan 8, 2026
Upper · Passed
On Committee agenda-- Ethics and Elections, 01/13/26, 4:00 pm, 37 Senate Building
upper
Dec 11, 2025
Upper · Passed
Pending reference review under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)
upper
Dec 1, 2025
Upper · Passed
On Committee agenda-- Governmental Oversight and Accountability, 12/09/25, 10:00 am, 110 Senate Building
upper
Oct 13, 2025
Committee
Referred to Governmental Oversight and Accountability; Ethics and Elections; Rules
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Don Gaetz
Don Gaetz
RRepublican
FL
1